Valve Software has launched the Steam Community Market in open beta, allowing Steam users to buy and sell in-game items using Steam Wallet funds. Sale items can be listed on the Community Market page or in players' personal inventories. Currently only Team Fortress 2 is supported and only consumables and tools can be sold at this time.

As the beta goes on, Valve plans to allow other items to be sold in Team Fortress 2 and to add the Steam Community Market functionality to other games. That will start to happen early next year.

"With over a half million trades made every week, the trading system has been very successful," said Valve software engineer Tony Paloma in a press release. "Extending game economies beyond trades and giving players a way to turn gameplay into funds for new items and games is a key component for moving that success forward."

There are some things to note when selling items: there's a transaction fee of 15 percent of the purchase price. Valve claims that it does this to protect against payment fraud and cover Market development costs. A fee specific to Team Fortress 2 applies as well.